Why Don't You Stay
by songspazz
Summary: Something's wrong with Jude. Her behavior, music, & health are suffering b/c of it, and no one is brave enough to talk to her, too scared they'll set her over the edge. But when she decides to let out all of her pain in a song, will he get her message?


"What d'ya got for me, girl?" Tommy asked with a small smile as he rolled in his chair so that he was facing the blonde seated on the couch.

She was staring at her clasped hands resting on her lap, unable to raise her eyes any higher.

"I... I finished something today..." she managed to force from her tight throat, "I've been working on it for a little while now..."

"Well, let's hear it!" he replied as Kwest re-entered the room carrying a mug of coffee.

Jude nodded with a sad determination in her eyes as she slowly rose and crossed into the room on the other side of the glass.

She didn't look quite like herself lately, and everyone noticed. She was weaker, more worn, and even appeared older somehow. They all knew she was hurting, but each one was too afraid to question why. They'd seen her in pain, but this was a darker, deeper sort of hurt, and they didn't know what might just push her over the edge... So instead of risking it, they just used fake smiles, falsely cheery words, and treats to try and help as best they could.

"Could I, um..." she spoke up, her voice quiet and shaky, and not at all like the Jude they all knew, "Could Spied play the music for me?"

"Of course, girl, whatever you want..." Tommy replied with a sweet smile, and nodded to Kwest, who then stood and crossed to the other side of the room.

"Spied!" he called as his eyes found the shaggy-haired musician sitting in the lobby, "We need you in here a sec..."

Jude still wouldn't meet Tommy's eyes as she tried to mentally calm herself and hold onto her nerve so that she didn't chicken out again.

_"I have to do this..." she repeated to herself silently._

"Dude...?" Spied's voice finally penetrated her thoughts, and she noticed his presence beside her for the first time, "Ready when you are... Got the chords?"

"Yeah, sorry..." she replied, putting some pages on the stand in front of him.

She played the intro to give him a feel for it and let the tabs do the rest.

"Okay..." she said, taking a deep breath before nodding to the two men staring back at her through the glass.

She saw Tommy's fingers count away for them and then felt the music wash over her, along with a surge of new emotions that were stronger than she'd expected, as Spied began to play the music to a song that could quite possibly change her entire life in minutes.

"I've been sitting here staring  
At the clock on the wall  
And I've been laying here praying,  
Praying she won't call  
It's just another call from home,  
And you'll get it and be gone,  
And I'll be crying," her voice rang out, clear and strong for the first time in days, filling both rooms with the powerful sound emitting from her small form.

Then she saw it, something that she didn't want to happen. A woman entered the studio, crossing to Tommy, but stopping a few feet behind him to listen while she sang.

Jude's eyes darted away, desperately trying to avoid the eyes of the on-lookers as her voice shook a little with her next words. But she didn't stop. She couldn't stop. She would never be able to do this again if she stopped now.

"And I'll be begging you, baby  
Beg you not to leave  
But I'll be left here waiting  
With my heart on my sleeve  
Oh, for the next time we'll be here  
Seems like a million years,  
And I think I'm dying  
What do I have to do to make you see?  
She can't love you like me..."

Then her eyes unwillingly locked with his, and neither could break their sudden connection, so Jude just continued singing with all the will she could find within herself.

"Why don't you stay?  
I'm down on my knees  
I'm so tired of being lonely  
Don't I give you what you need?  
When she calls you to go  
There is one thing you should know,  
We don't have to live this way...  
Baby, why don't you stay?"

As she felt her voice giving out, she looked away, unable to handle his piercing stare any longer. Her voice became stronger, after a moment, and she knew she had to finish the song or it meant nothing, so she took another deep but shaky breath before turning back to the mic.

"You keep telling me, baby  
There will come a time  
When you will leave her arms  
And forever be in mine,  
But I don't think that's the truth,  
And I don't like being used, and I'm tired of waiting...  
It's too much pain to have to bear,  
To love a man you have to share..."

The chorus rang out into the room again, and everyone could feel the pain in her words as understanding set in. In that moment, no one questioned why she was hurting. It was made very clear as she was forcing her words to come out and trying with everything in her to keep the tears that fell down her cheeks under control. Kwest's eyes finally broke from the broken woman in the booth to look at Tommy, whose gaze never once broke away from her, and he could just barely make out the unshed tears forming in his friend's eyes. As she saw the sadness on Tommy's face, Jude's voice became desperate and heart wrenching, and Kwest's eyes were also forced back toward her by the sound.

"I can't take it any longer,  
But my will is getting stronger,  
And I think I know just what I have to do...  
I can't waste another minute  
After all that I've put in it...  
I've given you my best,  
Why does she get the best of you?"

Her voice broke again as the instrumental break began, and she quickly wiped the tears that were falling, hating that people were seeing her like this.

"So next time you find you wanna leave her bed for mine..."

Jude sang quietly, and then paused, biting her lip, before she continued into the chorus again, her voice still quiet but with a lot of feeling as she sang her desperate plea.

"Why don't you stay?  
I'm up off my knees  
I'm so tired of being lonely  
You can't give me what I need  
When she begs you not to go  
There is one thing you should know...  
I don't have to live this way..."

She broke down completely then, her tears finally getting the best of her, and she sobbed quietly for a moment until she was able to finish the one last line that would end her torment or possibly add just that much more. Either way, it would be done, and there was no going back after that.

"Baby, why don't you stay..?"

She managed to force the last line out in a soft and weak sob that was barely over a whisper, and then she took in a deep breath, wiping the tears from her cheeks quickly.

"Oh my god..." a small voice chocked out from the back of the room.

"Sadie," Tommy said in panic as he whipped around in his chair.

Her eyes were locked on Jude; a mixture of pain, sympathy, despair, and shock on her face. She let herself drop onto the couch, suddenly feeling overwhelmed.

All the color had left her face as she watched her pale, lost, and frail baby sister practically weep into the microphone. And then, she also began to cry as she noted for the first time just how alarmingly thin the other woman had become.

_"How did I not notice?" the older sister asked herself silently, "What happened... I used to know everything that she was feeling..."_

Sadie's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a voice that sent a rush of hatred that consumed her entire body and pain that made her feel as if she were drowning in it.

"Sadie, I..."

"How long?" she bit out, as her eyes slowly moved from the ground up to meet the eyes of the man who was now kneeling down in front of her.

There was a deep look of anger and sadness in her eyes that he'd never seen in her before, and didn't want to see again.

"...Three months..." he whispered, as his eyes fell onto the ground below.

"Oh my god," she sobbed out, her hand flying up to cover her face.

"I'm sorry..." a small voice whimpered, and Sadie's eyes shot up to the girl who was now standing behind Tommy.

The girl she'd always seen as so strong, so together, so happy. She hardly recognized her as the same Jude she'd grown up with as she repeated the statement, her voice thick with sorrow and desperation.

"Jude..." Sadie sobbed out, wanting to grab her baby sister and just cling to her with all the might she could muster, but instead, she found herself frozen in her seat as she watched her rush out of the room alone.

"Jude!" Tommy's voice called out.

He stood, cradling his head in his hands, feeling lost and torn as he began to pace the room frantically, not knowing what to do.

"Sadie, I'm so sorry..." he said sincerely, letting his hands fall to his sides. He opened his mouth again but his words were lost.

"I'm so sorry..." he repeated, practically ripping the cracked door open and running through it.

* * *

Author's note:

In this chapter I used a song by Sugarland called "Stay" which does not belong to me in any way, and neither do the characters in the story. Only the actually story line and dialogue are mine.

I wrote this one a few years back as well, and I am now re-posting it on this account because of the complications with my old one. Hope you liked it! :) Please review!


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